British Health Service Promoting Sexual Activity for Teens and Seniors

In two new leaflets put out by the British National Health Service, the government advises elderly patients that it's "never too late to experiment" and tells teenagers that sex every day "keeps the doctor away."

The leaflet for teenagers, unambiguously called "Pleasure," was issued by the National Health Service in Sheffield and is available to teachers, parents and youth workers across the country.

"Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes physical activity three times a week," the booklet said, suggesting that some form of sexual activity "twice a week" might be healthy as well.

It's disheartening to see that sex is treated so cavalierly by the NHS. It also reflects a condition of the heart whereby sex is a tool for personal gratification and not love or service to one's husband or wife. Creation is groaning...

Now It's Time for Some Classic Far Side

Sanford's Apology Op-Ed

Thoughts? Do you think it's a sincere, godly, apology?

I have struggled with how best to convey my regret in letting so many down, and in that regard I realize this op-ed does not do justice to the process of saying “I am sorry.” A handwritten note or phone call would ultimately be more appropriate, but given the number of people I need to apologize to I write this to begin the journey of trying to get things more right with you and others.

It is true that I did wrong and failed at the largest of levels, but equally true is the fact that God can make good of our respective wrongs in life. In this vein, while none of us has the chance to attend our own funeral, in many ways I feel like I was at my own in the past weeks, and surprisingly I am thankful for the perspective it has afforded.

If you ever have the misfortune of being at this point, whether self-induced as in my case or not, it will give you an indeed amazing perspective on life and on what really matters. I read notes from someone who worked in a sandwich shop I ate at ten years ago, from 7th grade classmates, from state employees and more. While there have been lifetimes of lessons learned over the past weeks, three things most immediately come to mind.

One, forgiveness and grace really do matter. I used to believe that at an intellectual level, now it is at the level of heart. Over my life I have not given enough of either, and yet given all the ways in which my failings have come to light, I write to apologize for, in the most profound of ways, letting you and so many others down. In life it’s always the people closest to us that we hurt the most, and given my standing of public trust, I know I’ve hurt many across our state. I apologize for this, and more than anything would ask for your forgiveness going forward.

Two, life is indeed about way more than public standing or political views, it’s about recognizing that none of us are the arbiters of truth, that there are moral absolutes, and that there is a God to whom we will all report for our actions. My failure has been most glaring on this front, where no public apology can make wrong right. As a consequence, it is on this plane that I’ve grown the most over the past weeks – and where I’m committed to growing the most going forward.

I’ve been humbled and broken as never before in my life and as a consequence have given up areas of control in a way that I never have before – and it is my belief that this will make me a better father, husband, friend and advocate.

It’s in the spirit of making good from bad that I am committing to you and the larger family of South Carolinians to use this experience to both trust God in his larger work of changing me, and from my end, to work to becoming a better and more effective leader.

In this regard I think all that has transpired will be particularly relevant in the way I deal with the legislative body and other state leaders going forward. Micah 6:8 asks us to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly, and as I begin these steps into the last 18 months of this administration, it will indeed be with a more contrite and humble spirit.

I’ve realized that as much as I have and will continue to advocate for things ranging from restructuring to responsible spending to school choice, my approach needs to be less about my will and more about looking for ways to more humbly present the greater principals and ideas at play. It needs to be less strident and more about finding ways to work with legislative leaders to advance the ideas so many of us believe in. It means less time fighting the tide - and a greater awareness of the fact that God controls it. In working with a few alterations to my approach, I think this could be a far more productive last session than the one that would have been had the tragedy that has unfolded not occurred, and in turn, people’s lives can be made better.

Finally it is at your funeral that you in many ways not only can see most clearly the things that really matter in life, but where one gets the best glimpse of who your real friends are – and how much they matter. For that reason, I want to thank so many for their kindnesses and support over the years and for their kindness in this latest chapter in our book together as South Carolinians.

Bizaare Item of the Day: U.S. Airways Flight Diverted Due to Naked Passenger

(H.T. Breitbart TV)

Senator Grassley: "People always say I have the ability to turn people on."

Sen. Hatch and Sotomayor debate nunchucks

Yes, it's true. During the confirmation hearing today Senator Orin Hatch and Judge Sonia Sotomayor quibbled over Second Amendment rights as they pertain to a case in the state of New York involving nunchucks... Hilarious...

Here's a link to the CSPAN live coverage.

When We are the Crowd...

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:24b-34; NIV)

How many are there within the walls of the church who listen to the sermons, sing along with the worship music, and bow their heads for the prayers, yet who are not present in faith? How often do we who profess to follow Jesus "press around" and "crowd against" him (see verse 24 and 31), yet fail to touch him in faith?

I don't think this is just a story about the woman; I think it may be a story also about the crowd. So many are present with Jesus in this scene - perhaps jostling him, bumping up against him, and gathering around him, thrilled by his miracles. And yet in this part of the account, one woman is especially highlighted who was most truly present, who truly touched Jesus.

A multitude was crowding around Jesus, but the healing that this passage recounts comes when one woman touches him in faith.

Let us not simply crowd around Jesus in our churches, prayers, or Bible studies, but let us touch him in faith, knowing that in him is healing; in him is life!

Proper copyright credit to the NIV

To give proper credit to the source of the Scripture quotations in Eleomai's posts, I include the copyright notice from my NIV Bible (from which all quotations are taken, unless otherwise noted):

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Grace in the Old Testament

I am currently reading through the Old Testament, and instead of simply reading it as a series of individual stories, I am seeking to better see how it points to the gospel. Leviticus 16:29-31 stuck out to me especially:

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work - whether native-born or an alien living among you - because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. (NIV)

The whole chapter is an amazing read, and this passage in particular seems to clearly foreshadow the grace we find in the gospel. On the day of atonement, they were not to do any work, because atonement was to be made for them. This seems to be a strong way to phrase it, and seems to show that the atonement is God's work - something done for the people - and not something that the people do or earn. They were to abstain from work, and God would cleanse them from their sins. The gospel, foreshadowed in the Old Testament!